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Chapter Seven

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The clouds were gloomy up in the evening sky, casting a drab shadow on the city below where Mary Jane Watson, once again, found herself on that same path to her Aunt Anna's apartment. Her stride was as fast as her thoughts - going a mile a minute.

He hit her. Her father actually hit her!

Mary Jane wiped hastily at her wet eyes, furious that she had resorted to tears.

No… she was furious at her father for causing all of this by hitting her.

As soon as she had gotten over the shock of the action her father had inflicted, Mary Jane had immediately left. Her dad screamed at her, tried to get her to stop, but Mary Jane wouldn't allow herself to be deterred. In the end, he let her go. Probably realizing that she was better off without a deadbeat father like him.

So, that was how she found herself on the streetcar, riding to Queens from Brooklyn before she got off and was walking the streets the rest of the way. She needed her Aunt Anna… the closest thing that she had to an actual mother while her real mother was not mother at all. Because at that moment, she needed to be comforted. To feel safe and protected.

The sky above rumbled with rolling thunder and yet, despite that, the streets were crowded for the early evening. But Mary Jane hardly noticed as she walked dazedly forward, completely lost in her thoughts.

That is, until the people surrounding her started to scream.

Mary Jane looked up, startled, to see a crowd of people running away from the intersection just a dozen or so feet ahead of her.

She stood frozen in her confusion as people bypassed her. Until one portly man clipped her by the shoulder as he ran past, knocking her over by the impact. She fell onto her back with a loud thud that caused a resounding ring to echo in her ears. The man did not stop to help her up, nor did he even ask if she was alright.

He continued to run.

Mary Jane sat up so her elbows were supporting her upper body, noting that she now had a few scrapes on her skin from where she landed on the hard pavement, when a strange sound met her ears…

It almost sounded like the rustling of leaves in the wind. But that wasn't quite right. She couldn't quite put a finger on why it sounded so familiar to her… until she saw it.

In the middle of the intersection ahead of her, a large mound of sand sat. O-Only it was growing! More sand was being drawn into the pile as though it was drawn to it. It reminded her of some sort of magnetic force.

The pile of sand kept getting larger and larger before it actually started to take form… into that of a man.

Mary Jane gaped as the sand hardened and became more defined until she was staring directly at the face of one of the escaped convicts she had seen on T.V. not even an hour before.

Flint Marko.

He was looking directly at her, from his small distance away from her, smirking slightly at her obvious shock and fear

"Just what I needed…" Marko mused, his grin growing wider as he stared her down. It was at that moment where she just noticed a large bag filled to the brim with cash clutched tight in his hand. A large hole opened up in Marko's chest, where he deposited the bag of money before sand filled the hole up again. "A hostage."

Mary Jane's eyes widened as she scrambled to get up to her feet. Flint Marko started stalking towards her, malicious intent in his eyes. His hands started to grow larger as more sand was added to them, becoming twice the size of her body.

Mary Jane finally scrambled to her feet but there was no plausible way she could get away in time. He was too close and from what little she had seen from his powers, he would catch her the moment she turned to run.

Still, she had to try!

Mary Jane turned just as one of the large hands latched onto one of her legs.

Mary Jane cried out as the action caused her body to fall forward. Her hands just barely managed to catch her fall.

"WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOIN', PRINCESS?!" Marko called out to her with such vindictive glee in his voice. He was enjoying this. The sick bastard was actually enjoying this!

Mary Jane was just about to open her mouth to scream, when…

"Funny," A taunting voice called out from above them. "I was about to ask you the same question, Sour Puss!"

Mary Jane looked up just in time to see him mid-swing. She watched in amazement as he swung straight for Flint Marko before the heels of his feet landed a kick that collided perfectly with Marko's face.

Marko's face exploded into a dust storm of sand. In the midst of the confusion, Marko released his hold on Mary Jane's leg. She fell completely to the ground with the lost support that was holding her up.

"SPIDER-MAN?!" She heard Marko shout, rage pouring out of his voice. Mary Jane turned onto her back in order to see what was going on. Her heart was thudding so soundly in her chest that it felt as though she just might pass out.

Was it really Spider-Man? Her eyes followed Marko's indignant hate-filled gaze to spot the figure that was perched on the wall of the closest building.

It was Spider-Man! She couldn't believe that it was him! That she was in close proximity with him again! That he didn't disappear like the paranoid voice in the back of her mind pestered her to believe.

Only… he wasn't wearing his normal suit. This suit he wore now looked haphazardly sewn together from a makeshift red hoodie. It was then that she remembered the electric shock his normal suit had emitted the night she had found him unconscious in that alleyway.

This suit must be his backup while his normal one was getting repaired! At the thought, despite the current situation she found herself in, she pictured a faceless Spider-Man sewing together straps of different fabric together to make this suit, and she had to laugh a little bit. Because she had to admit, the thought behind it was just so… cute.

"YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!" Flint Marko screamed as he pointed an accusing finger at Spider-Man.

Spider-Man quirked his head to the side, his bulky goggles narrowed slightly in confusion. "Dead?! Me?"

Spider-Man's hands left the building to travel all across his own chest, mockingly checking to see if he was really there.

"YEAH!" Flint cried out in rage. "HAMMERHEAD SAID YOU GOT BLOWN UP BY THE BIG MAN'S TRAP!"

Spider-Man froze. Mary Jane felt all the air in her lungs leave her. The explosion… it hadn't been an accident. It had been deliberate. Someone, this 'Big Man', was trying to kill Spider-Man!

Spider-Man got over his shock a lot faster than she did with her own, as he shook off the revelation as though it was nothing. "Hmm… See, about that, I have this theory that spiders can survive a nuclear explosion."

"YOU RUINED MY LIFE!" Marko screamed, his fist transforming into a large hammer.

"Or maybe that's just my spider bias talking…" Spider-Man continued as though he didn't hear Marko.

Marko's hammer hand suddenly lurched forward, the sand extending his arm enough for it to reach where Spider-Man was currently perched on the wall.

Mary Jane cried out in horror at the scene before her, knowing that she was about to witness Spider-Man get hit by solid sand that was going the speed of a freight train. But just when the hammer had been about to hit him, Spider-Man flipped off of the wall, narrowly missing what would have been a fatal blow.

"Dude!" Spider-Man exclaimed, his voice stressed as he shot a web at the hammer mid-flip over Marko's head. "I don't even know who you are! How could I have possibly ruined your life?"

When Spider-Man landed nimbly on his feet, he immediately pulled at the line of his webbing, pulling Marko back so that he landed with an audible thud on the pavement.

As soon as he was on the ground, Spider-Man shot more webbing at Marko, trying to glue him to the pavement with the sticky substance.

"YOU DID THIS TO ME! YOU SIGNED MY DEATH SENTENCE WHEN YOU LET ME GO TO JAIL!" Flint Marko's body turned to tiny particles of sand, easily escaping through the gaps in the webbing. As soon as he was free, his body started to put itself back together again. The bag of money he had put in his chest stayed behind in its web prison. "AND NOW YOU'RE GOIN' TO PAY!"

Marko's skin trembled before his arms started to transform in rippling waves, turning both of his hands into two giant clubs. With a giant cry of rage, his arms extended forward with bursts of sand.

SLAM!

The two ends of the sledge-hammer hands collided together just as Spider-Man dodged out of the way in an impressive flip.

Thunder resounded from the clouds again, this time closer.

"ARGHHHH!" Marko cried out in frustration as he continued swinging the clubs at his enemy, with Spider-Man dodging every swing. "WHY WON'T YOU JUST STAY STILL?!"

Spider-Man flipped up in the air as he dodged another blow before he kicked Marko right in the face. Scattered sand went everywhere in a cloud of dust. Spider-Man landed nimbly on his feet.

"I'm shocked! I'm hurt!" Spider-Man quipped in mock outrage. "I thought that you liked it when we danced together?!"

Marko's face morphed back to it's original form before he turned to Spider-Man with the most hateful scowl. "WOULD YOU JUST SHUT UP?!"

Spider-Man put a hand to his chest in mock horror. "Now you are just being plain rude! Didn't your mom ever teach you manners?"

With a thunderous cry, Marko charged for Spider-Man.

Spider-Man flipped out of the way once again. "Well, since no one has taught you manners, I'll have to be the one to help you out."

With that quip, Spider-Man shot a glob of webbing at Marko's face, covering the man's mouth in the sticky substance before he shot more webbing at his sandy limbs, trying to coat his entire body.

Scattered droplets of rain started to fall.

Once Marko was completely covered, Spider-Man stepped back and surveyed his handiwork by framing Marko's form with his hands. "Now, I'm no photographer but even I can tell an amazing work of art when I see one! The lighting! The angles! You almost resemble a newly reformed criminal…?" Spider-Man trailed off with a hopeful lilt in his tone.

Marko's entire form trembled before he burst out in a storm of sand, exploding out of his web prision. His voice screamed out in rage that resounded in an echo all around.

Spider-Man's goggled eyes widened in alarm as he staggered back. "Whoops! Spoke too soon!"

He shot out a webline at the nearest building and swung out of the way just as the cloud of sand dumped on the spot he had been previously standing.

But his swing wasn't fast enough...

In a terrifying storm of sand, it redirected mid-air and slammed into Spider-Man, bringing him crashing down to the pavement.

"SPIDER-MAN!" Mary Jane cried out in horror.

The pounding sand kept coming down on Spider-Man, holding him down against the asphalt by the continuous assault from the sand storm when a hand formed out of the sand, wrapping around Spider-Man's neck. Marko's bodily form morphed from the rest of the sand as he grinned down vindictively at the hero pinned down by the throat underneath him.

"Now you're gonna pay…" His arm transformed into a sharp, sandy axe.

"NO!" Mary Jane screamed as she broke out into a run towards them, needing to stop the horrific act before it could happen.

Marko didn't pay her any mind as he brought his arm back in what was bound to be a powerful blow.

Mary Jane didn't even think. She just acted on pure instinct alone. And before she even knew it, her purse was hurtling through the air towards Marko's head at the exact moment Spider-Man shot out a web.

The purse hit Marko in the face just as Spider-Man's web stuck itself to Marko's axe hand. With Marko thoroughly distracted, Spider-Man pulled the line of webbing to the side, sticking the other end to the pavement, leaving enough space for Spider-Man to escape through.

As soon as he was free, Spider-Man rolled off to the side where he started coughing up a storm, trying to get a breath of fresh air. No doubt he had sand particles stuck in his throat from when the sand storm had been beating down on him.

Mary Jane looked on at him in complete worry and fear, hoping beyond hope that he was alright. When a movement caught her eye.

Marko turned his enraged gaze onto her, his eyes ablaze with absolute fury. Mary Jane staggered back at the look of murderous rage. He pulled the axe free from its web confinement with a firm yank.

"You little bitch!" Marko hissed before he got up onto firm feet and started stalking towards her. His face displayed such murderous intent that it caused Mary Jane's limbs to freeze on her. Her mind was screaming at her to run, but her body wasn't able to comply.

His hands transformed into giant sledge hammers and Mary Jane knew, with just one swing of those powerful arms, she would be done for.

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A/N: I know… I know… I'm the worst.

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